One thing is for sure, fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs will be forever grateful for Lou Lamoriello's service and will hope the team can continue to build on the strong foundation he has laid.

"Three years ago, Lou and I agreed on a contract that would see him serve as General Manager of the Maple Leafs for three years and then transition to Senior Advisor for the following four years", Shanahan said. "This morning, I informed Lou that I was not deviating from that course of action".

Team president Brendan Shanahan said he plans to focus all of his attention on finding Lamoriello's replacement but doesn't have a timeline in place for filling the position.

Lamoriello would not speculate on his long-term future with the Maple Leafs on the conference call.

Under Lamoriello's watch, Toronto gained a playoff berth in each of the past two seasons, and has improved its regular-season point totals from 69 in his first season to 95 and a franchise-record 105 this season on the strength of 49 victories.

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello spoke to reporters on April 27, 2018, two days after the Leafs lost in the first round to the Bruins.

Lamoriello was the Devils' general manager from 1987 to 2015, and his teams won the Stanley Cup three times.

Lamoriello and Shanahan have had a close relationship since the former drafted the latter into the Devils organization in the 1987 National Hockey League entry draft.

"When I approached Lou and we discussed coming to Toronto, I can certainly say I was hopeful he would take that challenge on and he has delivered", Shanahan said. He is expected to transition to being a senior advisor.

With Frederik Gauthier and Miro Aaltonen already AHL veterans, Lindholm is in tough to make the Maple Leafs roster but could be a nice fit with the Toronto Marlies for the beginning of next season. What remained unclear Monday is who might replace Lamoriello as GM. But Shanahan said Monday that working together, building a team along with head coach Mike Babcock and the organization's drafting and development team, has deepened his respect for, and ties to, Lamoriello, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame since 2009. Lamoriello spent 27 seasons as Devils GM before stepping down in May 2015 and joining the Maple Leafs in their rebuilding effort.

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